Product Description

User Reviews

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
Torgny Nilsson
a Audio Enthusiast

Date Reviewed: May 9, 2006

Bottom Line:

I fell in love with EFE's T-60 speaker when I demo'd all of their speakers a few years ago. While my wife was also impressed by the T-60, she was not as impressed with their size and cost. Because of that, we ultimately opted to get EFE's T-36 speakers as fronts, T-22s as surrounds, and C-22 as a center, all together costing less than the T-60s alone.

While system we purchased sounded amazing and made music sound live, especially when using EFE's Pro-One surround sound processor, it bothered me that we did not get the T-60s when we had a chance. The T-60 was simply the best speaker I had ever heard for less than $20,000. While all of EFE's speakers make music sound live, you felt like you were in the first row when listening to the T-60s.

But another's misfortune was ultimately my fortune. A T-60 owner moved and his wife made him sell his T-60s, much to his dismay. I had to agree not to buy myself anything else for a whole year, but my wife agreed to let me get the T-60s.

If cost is an issue, I think the T-36, or even the T-22 when used with a sub, sounds very close to the T-60. But if cost is less of an issue, you can't go wrong with the T-60. I would put it up against any speaker and I have a hard time imagining that any other speaker, no matter the cost, can provide a much better feeling of being there live.

The highest praise I can give the T-60 is that I recently went with my father to hear Sonny Rollins in concert at an acoustically engineered concert hall. As soon as we got back to my place, I put on one of Rollins' CDs. It sounded like we were back at the concert, but in the best seats this time. My father agreed that it sounded live and was so impressed that he did not seem to want to leave to go home.

Other friends have been similarly impressed. One friend who owns a recording studio has stated that he wants to come over to play recordings over my T-60s to ensure that they are perfect before he releases them to his clients. I can't think of any higher praise except to say that I have found the last speaker I will ever need to own.

After becoming familiar with EFE speakers, I bought the T-22s for use in my bedroom system. They were so impressive, I immediately started saving for the T-60s. A few months later, my beloved NHT 3.3s were sold and I called Ed Frias to order the T-60s. Ed kept me updated on his progress and emailed me pictures of the speakers in various stages of completion. Talk about customer service! About six weeks later, they were finished. The huge speakers were packed together in a wooden crate and dropped off in my drivway. My brother volunteered to help unpack them and set them up in the living room. I got mine with a burl wood laminate finish that looks really good. Ed also called me on the phone to make sure everything was OK and offered to send me some different resistors for the tweeters to adjust the sound to my liking (I stayed with the originals).

Now, the sound. Simply incredible. Just incredible. The music coming out of these speakers sounds more like live music than with anything else I've heard. The T-60s possess all the usual audiophile qualities: The bass is hard-hitting and tight and extends down to the 20 hz level. They can play EXTREMELY loud and the sound remains smooth and clear and unfatiguing. The sound stage is very large, with good imaging. The dynamics are outstanding. But more importantly, the music from the recording sounds like real, live music. That's the ultimate compliment to any piece of audio equipment. Every single person who's heard them at my house has had to pick up their jaw from the floor as they listened in disbelief. The T-60s are that good.

I've had the T-60s for almost two years. I never tire of their big, dynamic and realistic sound. Now, I have a full EFE system: T-22 for rear channels, a C-2 center, the T-60s in front and the EFE surround decoder. I'm totally happy with all of it.

In summary, these are among the best speakers avalaible at any price. Plus, EFE provides customer service one just can't get from a big company. EFE gets my highest recommendations.

I was looking for a new pair of speakers to replace my Paradigm Studio 100s, and during my search I was directed (from a post on AVS Forum) to a company called EFE. I had never heard of EFE and had a hard time finding out much about them at first. I was directed here and found glowing reviews on all of the EFE speakers and kept digging deeper. No matter where I looked I could find nothing negative about them. I spoke with the owner who actually hand builds the speakers, Ed Frias. He was very nice, not pushy at all, and most importantly, he was very knowledgable.

I decided to buy a full set of his speakers, including a pair of his flagship T-60s for my mains, a C-2 center and a pair of his T-22s for my surrounds.

It took him 6 weeks to finish making them, but it was well worth the wait. Once I got them home and set up, the sound was amazing. The sould stage was much bigger than it was with my Paradigms and I found I could also play soundtracks and music louder as the speakers were not harsh at all. They were amazingly unstrained and smooth at very very high listening levels. The bass was deeper and tighter than my Paradigms, which were not bad at all in that department. The C-2 and T-22s blend seamlessly with the T-60s. The sound is really something.

I would have to say that I don't think I will need to upgrade speakers for many years. To top these I think you would need to spend North of $15,000. And, even at that price I don't know if you could beat out the T-60s.

By the way, I have listened to many speakers in many home theaters over the years, some of the speakers costing as much as $25k per pair and I have to say I never remember being as moved by a speaker as I was and continue to be by the T-60s.

I believe Ed's contact information can be found in one of the other reviews, but if you are looking for an amazing sounding speaker for a bargain price then EFE should be on your short list!!!

I SOLD MY SOUL FOR A PAIR OF SPEAKERS!!! I originally bought Ed Frias's T-36's as my mains, to go along with the T-22 rears, and the C-2 center. This constitutes a perfectly matched 5.1 set of speakers. I loved everything about the speakers, the way they looked and the way they sounded. I listen to Rock and Heavy Metal music, so I needed some speakers that would really hit. I originally saw the T-60's when I went for a demo, but was blown out of the water by my wife. Then Ed told me that he was going to move to Arizona, and I inquired about his demo T-60's. Again I asked the wife, and again I was shot down. What part of "I don't want 5 foot speakers in my living room didn't you understand the first time" was her exact response. As Ed's move got closer, I kept working my angles, even to the point where Ed was able to help me sell the T-36's to one of his customers, so I wasn't going to lose anything. I go back to the wife and lay the whole deal out for her. The T-60's were the ones I really wanted, I won't have to eat the T-36's I have now, these are Ed's demos so I know he has taken special care to tweak them, still nothing! Then I sold my soul! We recently bought a new house so I bartered with her. Honey if you let me have these speakers, I will let you make all decisions about the house. Furniture, back yard design, landscaping, painting, decorating, you get to have everything else your way. WOW! She took the bait. My friend's now ask me, "Wasn't that too high a price to pay"? After about 3 songs, everyone agrees that I made the right deal. Of course, I do have to walk through my Yellow walled Living Room with Red country couches and country formal dining table to get to my Family Room. But as soon as I turn on the new Audio Slave CD in 2 channel stereo at full blast, it's all worth it. With SACD and DVD Audio in 5.1, it is amazing! Everyone that has come over and listened to my stereo says the same thing. They have never heard music like this before. You can hear every instrument, every vocal cord, every drum beat, the whole nine yards. Talk about speakers that hit, these will make your heart beat differently! So was it worth selling my soul? I say, I only wish I would have done it sooner! Ed's new contact info is:
ED FRIAS ENTERPRISES
668 W Lee Blvd
Prescott, AZ 86303
928-778-2616
efespeakers@commspeed.net

I had a pair of the B&W Nautilus 804's as my front speakers in my home theater/music system. Then I purchased a pair of the T-22 speakers and a C-2 speaker for my rear surround speakers on a 6.1 surround system. I was so impressed with the way the T-22's sounded that I replaced the B&W's with the T-60's. I always wanted full range speakers but I could not afford to pay the high prices that they cost. The T-60's sound as good as any full range speaker that I have heard and at a reasonable price. My music and movies have taken on a whole new dimension since putting these speakers in my system. The B&W's sounded good but the T-60's sound like the musicians are in the room with you. From Jazz to Rock to full Orchestra music its live and in living colar. The soundstage on both movies and music is much wider and deeper. The build quality is just as outstanding on the T-60's as it is on the T-22's. I had them made in the dark mahogany laminate like my T-22's and they are beautiful. These speakers compete head-on with outher highend speakers at a fraction of the cost. They are an outstanding buy. These speakers are big at 60" tall but once you hear the quality of the music there size is not a problem. You can e-mail Ed Frias at EFESPKRS@AOL.COM .
My system
EFE Tech. T-60 front speakers
B&W Nautilus HTM1 front center speaker
EFE Tech. T-22 rear surround speakers
EFE Tech. C-2 rear center speaker
M&K MX-350 subwoofer
Denon AVR-5800 surround receiver
ATI 1506 power amplifier " for the front three speakers"
ARCAM FMJ CD23 cd player
Music Hall MM7 turntable
Panasonic DVD-RV30 dvd player
Richard Gray Power Co. pwer conditioners